Air vehicles, such as aircraft, rotorcraft, weapon, spacecraft or the like, often include a plurality of movable structures, such as control surfaces or other structures that are configured to be controllably moved and repositioned. For example, an aircraft may include a plurality of control surfaces that may be individually repositioned in order to perform controlled maneuvers to maintain the flight of the aircraft and/or to improve performance, such as by improving lift and lift trim, flow control, aircraft level flight trim, aircraft passive and active stability or internal volume change, reducing drag, defining the shock position, defining the center of pressure, delaying separation and stall, vectoring of thrust, altering the maximum speed or the like. Other examples of movable structures include actuated doors, aircraft components configured to fold, warp or twist and other movable structures such as a wing fold, a moving stabilizer, a weapons bay door, a gear door, an outer mold line (OML) shape, an expandable volume, an inlet bump/ramp, an inlet lip, a canopy, a swing wing, an adaptive/morphing structure, a fin, a helicopter blade, etc. The movable structures may be moved, reshaped, reoriented, or repositioned for various purposes, as descried above.
In order to controllably reposition a control surface, a door, OML shape, or other movable structural component or surface, an air vehicle may include a plurality of actuators with one or more actuators associated with each movable structure. The actuators may be commanded, such as by a pilot, a flight control computer or otherwise, in order to reposition the respective movable structure to a desired position, shape or orientation.
Each actuator generally includes an actuator housing that will be attached to a primary or reference structure, such as a wing of the air vehicle, and one or more linear or rotary actuation mechanisms, gears, and linkages that are at least partially composed within the actuator housing and operably connected to the movable structure. As such, the actuation mechanism provides for a controlled positioning, e.g., position, shape, and/or orientation, of the respective movable structure, such as in response to control signals provided by the pilot, the flight control computer or otherwise. However, to meet system design, certification, and performance requirements, the design, build, attachment and installation of the actuator housing to the primary structure may be labor intensive, heavy, large and expensive. Moreover, an actuator housing and mechanism that satisfies multiple system requirements, such as rate, loads, stiffness, deflection, etc., and is mechanically mounted to the primary or secondary structure may require altering the outer mold line of the air vehicle which, in turn, may disadvantageously affect the performance of the air vehicle. In addition, a larger and heavier actuation system design also impacts the performance of the air vehicle and the space available for other aircraft systems and fuel.